Chapter 77
“This feels like we’re invading Scarlett’s privacy. It just doesn’t feel right.”
But Martha sensed something more beneath their words, leaving her confused and unsettled.
To her, Scarlett had always been a genuinely good person. She treated the Quinn family, and even the housekeepers, with humility and kindness.
Scarlett had even used acupuncture to ease their rheumatism, something that even the major hospitals hadn’t been able to treat effectively. Thanks to her, the pain that once flared up whenever it rained or the wind blew had become much more manageable.
Whenever they were overwhelmed with work, Scarlett would jump in without hesitation, never minding the dirt or the hard labor.
In her spare time, she was often found reading. She was diligent and hardworking. To them, Scarlett was far more sincere and genuine than Lily.
It was strange, though. Despite Scarlett being the biological daughter, the brothers seemed to prefer their adopted sister, who had no blood relation to them.
They couldn’t quite understand it.
Jonah struggled to accept that Scarlett hadn’t returned, especially since tracking showed her location was inside the house.
Pinching his nose against the smell, he walked in and flipped on the light switch to the storage room.
Without Scarlett’s regular care, the place had fallen into complete disarray. It had only been half a month, yet a thin layer of dust already coated the table.
Fallen leaves, carried in by the wind, wefe scattered across the floor.
Jonah looked up and finally noticed a large hole in the skylight.
The edges of the opening were already covered in cobwebs,
He remembered Lily accidentally breaking it while playing baseball, but she had clearly said she’d had it replaced the very next day.
So, how could it still be broken?
Just then, Jonathan walked in, his gaze sweeping over the room as a flash of surprise crossed his face. It was his first time ever stepping into this room.
He had never cared which room Scarlett lived in. After all, there were no bad rooms in the Quinn residence.
He had always assumed that even the worst room here would be hundreds of times better than anything in the countryside where she came from. But he had never realized there was such a small, dark room hidden away in the house.
His voice was sharp with anger as he demanded, “Who allowed Scarlett to stay in this room?”
Jonah shifted uncomfortably, his eyes flickering instinctively toward Lily, who stood by the doorway. Although he had been the one to bring Scarlett here that day, it was Lily who had chosen the room.
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She had even suggested, “Jonah, do you want to test Scarlett? I have an idea. Let’s have her stay in the downstairs storage room first. It’s not as nice as the rooms upstairs, but it’s still better than a hotel.”
But was it really better than a hotel?
A flicker of panic crossed Lily’s face before she quickly stepped forward and said, “This place was definitely clean and tidy a year ago. I even had the floors redone. I don’t know how it got like this after Scarlett moved in.”
Jonah frowned and asked, “Why wasn’t the skylight replaced?”
Lily looked up as if noticing it for the first time, her face flushing slightly with a touch of feigned annoyance.
“Oh heavens, why hasn’t it been fixed yet? I’ve mentioned it several times! That housekeeper must have been so careless!”
Standing by the door, Martha’rolled her eyes in exasperation. She had never heard Lily give any such instructions. Talk about shifting the blame!
Lily went on, “It’s such a shame that the housekeeper was fired. She really caused Scarlett a lot of harm. Otherwise, I would have given her a piece of my mind.”
The truth was, the skylight had broken a month ago during a cold snap when the temperature had plunged to just a few degrees.
At that moment, Jonah and Jonathan both remembered Scarlett lying in this very room on the day of the coming–of–age ceremony. She was soaked through and burning with fever. Their brows furrowed, troubled expressions clouding their faces.
Just then, Lily exclaimed, “Isn’t this Scarlett’s phone?”
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